


Guns and Roses

by SHSL_ex_SOLDIER



Series: Volume 6-7 but GAYER [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, and it's still gay, did i have to make this convolutedly difficult for me to write?, no but if it makes it funnier then it is my gay given duty, pretend this happened somewhere in V7, pretend with me for the hijinks, the longest gagshot i wrote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29075337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHSL_ex_SOLDIER/pseuds/SHSL_ex_SOLDIER
Summary: Ever since Weiss first laid her eyes on Ruby’s guns, her life knew no rest.Or read as:The fourteen times that Weiss wanted to touch Ruby's bare arms and the one time she actually did.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: Volume 6-7 but GAYER [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1243496
Comments: 11
Kudos: 93





	Guns and Roses

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this last year but I forgot to post it because I was too busy being gay irl. Now enjoy my favorite fictional gays.

It started innocent enough, the day at least.

Having just returned from a mission, Weiss waited in the debriefing room to report. It seemed that she was early too since no one else had yet arrived. To pass time, she pulled out her scroll and started reading. Two chapters into Advanced Application of Dust Theory was a good place to stop or as it was recommended by the interruption.

Roses. She caught the scent of roses just before familiar strong arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind.

"Weiiiss!" Ruby greeted as she happily nuzzled into Weiss' shoulder.

"Hello, Ruby." She nonchalantly continued, already used to her partner's affectionate, if not physically clingy, nature. Even the part where her heart picked up the pace was also something she was used to. She has even mastered the art of being discreet about it.

Or so she would like to believe.

"Whacha reading?" Ruby's chin settled snugly on Weiss' shoulder, her cheek warm against her partner's. She pressed herself against Weiss' back; and if Weiss focused enough, she could feel Ruby's heart beating fast — most likely from her earlier burst of energy.

Which Weiss could not use the same excuse on herself since the most exercise she's done in the past few minutes was the swiping of her finger.

"I believe you're familiar with the title. It's something called 'Mind Your Own Business'." Weiss nonchalantly continued scrolling through the current page. By this point, it was moot to even try absorbing anything she read with her partner distracting her oh so wonderfully, but Ruby did not need to know that.

Ruby already had enough power over her, Weiss was not about to give her more.

"Aww, don't be like that." Ruby whined, and Weiss could hear the pout without even seeing it. "Please tell me?"

Ruby pressed not just her inquiry but herself literally as well, tightening her embrace on Weiss, and consequently getting Weiss that much closer to a heart attack. Her greatest concern, however, was the fact that this would be an embarrassing position to die in.

Weiss sighed and willed her heart to be still. She knew that her partner would not stop pestering her until she answered. "If you must know, it's just a simple reading on Dust."

Weiss had to commend herself for sounding so unaffected by Ruby's… well, _effect._

"Pfft! As if you read anything simple!" Ruby happily called her out. "I bet it's some super complicated and super advanced reading."

"It's not that complicated." Weiss scowled.

Ruby snorted. "That's just Weiss-speak for complicated."

Weiss would have shot her a glare but from this angle and with not much space between — Ruby's concept of personal space encroached too much on Weiss' own — it would have been ineffective. "What are you even doing here? Isn't it your free time for today?"

And Weiss would know because she was up to date with their team's schedules. What Weiss did not know was Ruby's intentions.

"I wanted attention."

"And you came to me, why?"

"I wanted your attention."

"And so you have, now what?"

Not only did Weiss hear Ruby pout but she also _felt_ it. Ruby's face was pressed close against hers, skin flushed against skin, that if she were to turn her head even only slightly, lips would connect with skin. She felt her face warm up even more from just that thought.

Weiss only hoped that Ruby would not notice the sudden rise in her temperature.

"Weiss, you haven't even looked at me this whole time," Ruby grumbled.

"You have my partial attention." Weiss deflected, still not looking at her partner. To be fair, Ruby's position did not exactly allow much for her to see, and Weiss was not about to pull away.

And that's the thing. Weiss knew that it was the smart and practical thing to do, to pull away, to put some distance between her and her partner. Not too much, just enough for her to acquiesce to Ruby's request to look at her. But to give up this closeness?

Well if Ruby initiated this close contact then she should be the one responsible for ending it, Weiss reasoned as she refused to move.

"Weiiiss!" Ruby wailed, slightly shaking Weiss in the process.

Still though, Ruby's whining was particularly grating this up close and Weiss knew that her partner had places to be.

Weiss simply tapped on the next page of her reading. "Didn't you promise to race with Harriet again today?"

"Yeah, but…" Ruby paused and Weiss imagined that she was biting the inside of her cheek in thought. "If I use my semblance, I could always make it in time."

"Save your aura for the actual race, dolt." Weiss chastised, tilting her head to bump lightly against Ruby's. "Now hurry along. You know how rude it is to make people wait."

Without lifting her eyes from her scroll, she absentmindedly patted her partner's arm…

Strange. Something felt _off._

"Fine." Ruby huffed and her arms unwrapped from Weiss.

It was only when Ruby walked away that Weiss finally looked up.

Guns. Only now did she notice her partner's guns… and she was not talking about Crescent Rose.

Before her was the retreating vision of Ruby. It was still the same Ruby she was used to seeing, huntress outfit and all — except not all of her huntress outfit was on. With Ruby's long-sleeved blouse missing, Weiss was treated with what was usually hidden underneath.

Strength. Raw strength at its finest was on display as Weiss could only gawk at Ruby's toned arms. She remembered trying to lift Crescent Rose once during training, and failing due to the sheer cumbersome weight of the weapon. But Ruby? Ruby hefted the scythe with practiced ease, and Weiss could not tell if she was breathless from her previous attempt on trying to lift the scythe or rather from the sight.

However as she stared at Ruby's bare arms which held no Crescent Rose but still carried strength, Weiss knew the answer all too well.

Those arms were a formidable force to be reckoned with.

And she just had them wrapped around her just now! She didn't even cop a feel while at it! Well, she did, technically, but that did not count since she was not able to savor it at all! They were just _right there!_ Literally within her arms reach a while ago! Ruby's toned arms had been wrapped around her and the most Weiss had done was pat it.

Weiss would have shed a tear but then her vision would have blurred the few last precious seconds she had of the vision of Ruby's bare biceps. But even now that Ruby was out of sight, she certainly was not out of mind.

Ever since Weiss first laid her eyes on Ruby's guns, her life knew no rest.

* * *

Because the next day, Ruby was sleeveless again.

"Hi, Weiss!" Ruby greeted, jogging up to her.

Weiss' eyes scanned her partner from top to bottom, then back up again, many times, lingering on certain parts that she would rather not admit to anyone. At a glance, Weiss could tell that Ruby was more roughed up than usual if the scorch marks and soot were anything to go by.

Ruby had mentioned before something about trial by fire as endorsed by Maria. Weiss only hoped that her partner did not take this to the literal sense.

"What happened to you?" Weiss asked with a skeptical brow raised.

"Sparring with Yang." Ruby then did her best to enact the whole fight on her own, and without weapons involved, as she always did when sharing an action packed story.

Ruby did not have to tell Weiss every little detail. It would have sufficed to just skip to the part which explained her current ashen state. But Weiss let her partner ramble on nonetheless.

"One attack led to another and BOOM!" She added her own explosive sound effect, cute but inaccurate. "Found out that my clothes aren't that fireproof."

Weiss would have told her that one did not have to be set on fire to find out that no brainer fact but when she opened her mouth, her jaw dropped instead.

For Ruby flexed her left arm and with her right hand, she patted her bicep, smearing darkened soot on her pale complexion. The black marks left made it impossible for Weiss' to look anywhere but at the taut muscles of her partner.

And, oh.

_Oh._

They looked even more powerful this close and this tight.

All of a sudden, Weiss felt lightheaded. Whether upon reflex or in a desperate attempt to hold onto something, anything at all, Weiss crossed her own arms as an excuse to hold herself. But rather than help her, it had the opposite effect.

Because when Weiss held her own arms, all she could think about was Ruby's toned arms — and how she wished that she was holding on to those instead.

Weiss cleared her throat as well as any of those inappropriate thoughts. "As I'm sure that was an exciting spar, it's also left you in such a deplorable state. Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?"

Ruby's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Okay!" Just when Ruby was about to latch onto Weiss' arm, like how she would from time to time when going anywhere with her partner, Ruby stopped herself with only a few inches left before contact.

Ruby looked at Weiss' perfectly pristine arm and down at her own arm. She must have realized just how close she was to dirtying Weiss' own sleeves and pulled on the brakes before they had to deal with another cleanup disaster.

While Weiss was touched by Ruby's consideration, she could not help but feel equal parts disappointed, if not more.

Still, Ruby's grin shone brilliantly even with ash smeared on her cheeks. Underneath the soot, Weiss could make out just the faintest blush. "Lead the way, partner!"

Even though Weiss offered to help Ruby clean, the most she actually did was shove her in the bathroom. There was not much she could do to help her partner since most of it could be easily solved with a bath; and Weiss knew that this did not call for _that_ kind of assistance.

And as she heard the shower run, so too did Weiss' thoughts.

Black smeared on creamy skin. The unnatural shade only emphasized the natural and hard earned contours of muscles. The _muscles._

Weiss prepared her change of clothes. Ruby was not the only one in need of a shower.

* * *

When Ruby showed up sleeveless again, Weiss was _pleasantly_ surprised.

Even on the third time, it still has not lost its charm. Weiss let her eyes stray and linger on those lean muscles when she was sure Ruby was not looking. Strong toned arms swayed by Ruby's sides, casual yet no less powerful. She bit her bottom lip.

The gun show definitely did not lose their appeal at all.

And Weiss was trying her damn hardest not to lose her composure every time.

"Ruby, why aren't you wearing your long sleeves?" _Again,_ she wanted to ask with that specific detail but that would be an admission of her paying specific attention.

The sudden question had Ruby's head tilt like it did whenever she was unsure. "Oh, it's… missing?"

Weiss refused such a vague answer. "Are you telling me or are you asking me?"

"The first one." Ruby nodded more to herself than to her partner. "When I went to get my laundry, it was missing."

Missing laundry was not unheard of. Back in Beacon, laundry went missing more often than when they went out buying new ones. But that was Beacon, back there when the laundry was handled by teenagers who could not handle the responsibility of handling Grimm any more than the responsibility of doing their own chores.

This was Atlas. And while their laundry was still handled by the same teenagers — aka themselves — surely now that they were official huntresses, missing laundry should have been a thing of the past.

Or so Weiss thought.

"Come to think of it…" This reminded Weiss of an earlier incident. "On the way here, I overheard Jaune complaining about his laundry missing as well. I didn't think there was more than one case of missing clothes."

"Jaune's lost his too?" Ruby crossed her arms as she took that information in, the action though innocent enough, drew Weiss' gaze all the same.

With Ruby's arms crossed, defined muscles tightened with tension. Weiss could have sworn that the mere sight caused a different kind of tension to coil in her. To say that it was distracting was an understatement. Her head was filled with anything but those damn sculpted arms.

In fact, Weiss almost forgot about Ruby's question altogether. She swallowed in an effort to soothe her suddenly dry throat. What was Ruby's question again? She nodded in response, not trusting herself with words.

"That's pretty weird." Ruby pondered out loud. "Do you think anyone else lost theirs too?"

Weiss shook her head, both in answer and in an attempt to clear her head. "I sure hope not. I still have my laundry left over there."

Ruby gasped. "We should check!"

And with that, Ruby ran forward — forgetting to take Weiss with her.

Usually this would be the part where Ruby would have tugged Weiss along with her. Weiss would know this to be true because it has happened more often than not whenever they were about to go anywhere together and especially if Ruby was the one leading.

But for some reason, Ruby had not whisked Weiss away. Maybe it was just Ruby's excitement that had her go ahead instead. And maybe it was the disappointment of being left behind that had Weiss still standing there.

After a couple of steps, Ruby seemed to notice that there was no other set of footsteps following her. She looked back. "What are you waiting for?"

"I didn't agree to anything just yet." Maybe if Weiss stood her ground, Ruby would fetch her. Maybe if she were even lucky, Ruby would loop one of her arms with hers.

However, good fortune was just not her semblance. "Are you really sure you don't want to check? Because… finders keepers!" And with that, Ruby burst into a sprint and raced forward.

This was Ruby who had a semblance with speed as an attribute and yet here she was running with her _legs._

If Weiss was thinking straight, she would have rejoiced at Ruby basically handicapping herself by opting to use her legs rather than semblance. But then again, it was rather hard to think straight when all Weiss could focus on were Ruby's _arms._

Weiss has never paid so much attention to one's running stance as she did now. She realized that although legwork was the most crucial in any race, the arms played their fundamental part too. For with every adept swing of Ruby's arms brought counterbalance to her leg's momentum.

Not to mention, the exquisite bend of elbows and muscle tension to a natural rhythm made Weiss more breathless than the race itself.

Refusing to be left behind, Weiss ran forward as well. She did not want to lose nor did she want to lose sight of Ruby and her arms in action.

* * *

Weiss was just about to tear her own sleeves when Ruby walked in sleeveless again.

Weiss had gotten to see those glorious biceps three times in a row now and yet not once has she ever laid hands on them since day one. Of course, she had gotten away with lots of what she hoped were discreet peeks but she wanted to do more than just window shopping.

But then again, what excuse could she possibly use? She could not just touch them — no matter how badly she wanted to. Initiating anything physical was something Ruby would do, not her. If Weiss were to suddenly start doing that too then that would only invite questions.

Questions that Weiss doubted if she could ever survive answering them.

So for now, she had to stick to the status quo. For some oddly convenient circumstance or another, she was getting these opportunities. And _oh,_ was she ever so grateful whenever the opportunity presented itself in the form of those well-defined muscles. For every opportunity, she just had to be patient and hope the scales would tip ever so slightly more in her favor.

Speaking of which, she wondered why Ruby was in such a desirable state again.

"Missing laundry again?" Weiss asked her in a surprisingly even tone despite how uneven her heartbeat was.

Ruby, oblivious to Weiss' internal suffering, frowned and shook her head. "No, I know where it is this time."

"Oh, and where is it?"

"It got thrown out of a window."

And then Weiss' mind went blank. She blinked.

…What?

The answer was certainly the biggest surprise for today, far from her favorite, but it had the most shock value. It was just so outrageous that she must have just misheard because that could not be right, right?

However, one glance at Ruby's troubled face told Weiss that Ruby had her fair share of surprises today.

"Pardon?" Weiss shot her an incredulous look. "How did that happen?"

"Hey, don't ask me! I'm not the one who threw it out!"

When Ruby raised her hands in a defensive gesture, Weiss used all of her willpower not to spontaneously combust over the defined bulge of Ruby's biceps which peeked behind her forearms.

Instead she refocused her scrambled thoughts back to their ongoing conversation.

"And just who in their right mind would throw laundry out of the window?"

"If I told you then you're gonna chew them out."

"I would not."

Yes, she would.

"You just scrunched your nose a bit! Don't lie! You totally would!" Ruby accused with somewhat solid proof; not that Weiss would ever confess to that.

"Fine, don't tell me whose fault it is." Weiss could pry that answer from Ruby another time.

There was still the issue as to why her partner was still walking around sleeveless — not that she was complaining, definitely _not_ complaining about that. She was still, however, concerned over her partner's belongings.

"Couldn't you have caught it?"

"I tried to grab it but the wind _whooshed_ it away!"

Ruby stretched both of her arms, mimicking her previous attempt at catching clothes. As told by Ruby, that attempt ended up in failure and the only success this reenactment achieved was give another fetching show of muscles to Weiss.

It would have been so easy to squeeze herself between those two outstretched arms. If Weiss did then perhaps Ruby would have wrapped her arms around her for that much wanted physical closure. But nothing in life was ever easy. Despite her desire for otherwise, Weiss kept a polite distance between them.

"And you didn't find it after?" Weiss asked after Ruby's rather distracting storytelling.

"Uhhh…" Ruby fumbled for a reply.

The vague answer told Weiss what she already suspected. "You didn't search for it, didn't you?"

"Um, I forgot?" Ruby chuckled nervously.

If Ruby wanted to cover up her irresponsibility by being cute, well she has another thing coming.

With a click of her tongue, Weiss asked, "What's your schedule for today?"

"Uhh…" Ruby did a quick check on her scroll before returning it in her pouch. "Free time until the next hour, why?"

"Come along. We are going to try and find your defenestrated laundry."

"My deaf-forest-ed laundry?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Just help me look for your clothes."

"Oh." Ruby understood now, and then she squealed. "Yay! Scavenger hunt!"

Weiss started walking away, confident that her partner would follow.

When Ruby made no motion to grab Weiss' arm — which Weiss was acutely aware of definitely not because she was expecting — Weiss considered if she should rectify this. But then she remembered her strategy. Patience would pave the path to her victory spoils later.

Although, the more time those lean biceps tempted her, the more she would not mind being spoiled now.

And as Ruby settled in step beside Weiss, those powerful arms of hers sometimes _almost_ brushing against Weiss' own, it left Weiss yearning for more. It was torture. It was agonizing yet enticing, and it was torture. But Weiss would endure it.

After all, it could not possibly get worse than this.

* * *

Weiss was wrong. She was horribly and irrefutably wrong. It _could_ get worse.

Weiss was pretty sure that Ruby was teasing her at this point. No, it would have been tolerable if Ruby was only teasing. Weiss was certain that Ruby was actively trying to drive her _mad._

If Ruby wanted Weiss to notice her arms then she already has. In case Ruby was not aware, Weiss had taken notice since day one. Day one! Ruby did not have to go through such outrageous lengths to achieve something that has been checked from the start. Fourteen days! Weiss had to suffer through _fourteen_ days of doing nothing more than checking out Ruby's arms courtesy of her lack of sleeves. And each time the sleeves were missing for a different reason!

There was the first day where Weiss could not remember if she asked how or why Ruby was sleeveless, all she remembered was that that was the first and only contact she had, and how all the days that followed were essentially torture by abstinence.

There were the less inconspicuous ones such as the fire incident during a spar, the missing laundry, that time someone borrowed Ruby's blouse, and that other time the blouse got mixed with other laundry and came out black. Just typical and believable accidents; nothing suspicious at all if only they did not happen within days of each other.

Then there were those accidents that fell on the more incredulous end of the spectrum like that time Ruby's laundry was thrown out of a window for unclear reasons, that one time her blouse got shredded — not from a fight but _after_ the fight — which just did not make sense but Weiss gave up trying to make sense out of anything at this point.

And how could Weiss forget the weird incident where Ruby's long-sleeved blouse went missing and in its place was a suspicious I.O.U. note? If Weiss did not know Ruby's penmanship, she would have suspected her partner of forging that note.

But alas, no matter how excitable her partner was, she was not one to fill half a page with exclamation points.

What else? Seriously, these accidents were getting out of hand. There was that time Ruby's blouse had a hole lasered in it on accident and according to Ruby's account, the other party wanted to apologize by sewing it back so of course, Ruby parted with her ruined blouse. And there was also that one incident of spilled tea.

Actually, that last one with the tea was pretty mundane.

But those were still excusable. Because no matter how ridiculous these accidents were, that was all they were — accidents. There were also times when Ruby had volunteered to take off her long sleeves for reasons.

What reasons one might ask? Why did Ruby even need to have the most ridiculous reasons for such an inane thing as a fashion choice? Weiss would never understand.

All Weiss knew was that one day Ruby took her blouse off for meditation, another day she did it for a tentative promise of an upgrade, and there was that one time she said she did it for science. Weiss thought Ruby was joking on that last one but Ruby all too seriously told her that science was no joke.

Why would anyone take off their blouse 'for science'? Stripping did not seem like a scientific move at all but Weiss did not complain about the results.

Then there was also one of the more memorable days, if not _the_ most memorable, where Weiss saw Ruby's sleeves unravel before her eyes.

It was during training while Ruby was leaning against Crescent Rose, a loose thread must have gotten snagged on the scythe because when Ruby peeled herself away, her sleeves had come undone — and so had Weiss.

The way her brain managed to capture it in slow motion, in every tantalizing detail, felt like all of her training in honing her skills had culminated to capturing this vision. The gradual reveal of skin with every stitch undone was practically art in its greatest form. Now _that_ was a show.

All these happened in fourteen days. Fourteen days of Weiss doing nothing more than admiring Ruby's bare and toned arms. Well, no more.

Today would mark fifteen. This would be the day she's waited for. Fifteenth would be the day that Weiss would finally get to feel those arms. Amidst the frustration of the past weeks, she had started planning. She even had a binder to go with those plans as essential for any great plan of hers.

Only to have those plans go up in smoke when Ruby showed up — for the first time in two weeks — wearing her long-sleeved blouse.

…

…Why?

Why now?

"You're wearing sleeves." Weiss' mouth moved before she was even aware of it.

Ruby looked at her blouse as if trying to find something off about it. But when she could not find anything, she returned her gaze on Weiss, now a bit self-conscious. "Uhh, yeah. Thanks for noticing?"

"Why are you wearing sleeves?" Weiss was sure that bluntly pointing out anything remotely related to Ruby's arms, sleeves included, was not part of any of her scripts but she could not care less at this point. She was too devastated to think things through.

Ruby's face scrunched up in confusion at Weiss' line of inquiry. "Because it's part of my outfit?"

"But you haven't been wearing them for two weeks now!" Fourteen days, she counted. This would have been the fifteenth if Ruby had only cooperated.

"Oh, wow. Has it been two weeks already?" Ruby paused. "Wait, you were counting?"

Suddenly, the attention shifted to Weiss. And she did not want any of it.

Weiss crossed her arms, defensive. "That's besides the point."

"You totally were counting!" Ruby pointed out and pointed a finger at Weiss while she was at it.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." Weiss deflected.

"But you're still bothered." Ruby pressed. Her eyes darted to her blouse and then back to her partner. An idea had formed behind those concerned silver eyes." Are you bothered by my sleeves?"

Weiss stiffened.

"What? You are?" Ruby sounded surprised at first but then she just got confused. "But… But why?"

"I am _not_ bothered by your sleeves." Weiss huffed. "If anything _you're_ bothering me."

The accusation was not untrue. Ruby had been bothering Weiss, it's just probably not in the way that Ruby must be thinking of. After all, how could Ruby ever be aware of Weiss' personal suffering in regards to her partner's arms? The answer was that Ruby could not, and if Weiss had any say about it, Weiss would not say anything incriminating.

If only Ruby had not worn her long sleeves today then this conversation would have gone differently — in exactly 52 ways according to Weiss' now discarded binder.

"Weiss." Ruby used her leader voice and Weiss internally cursed because that meant Ruby was taking this seriously. "What's really bothering you?"

"Just drop it, Ruby." Weiss sighed. "We need to get going anyways. If we stay any longer, we might be the last ones to show up." She knew that Ruby would not let this go that easily but she hoped that getting them to move would put some distance in the topic too.

However, Weiss has always known her partner to be persistent when she wanted to be.

"But I want to know."

"No."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me."

"..."

"Tell meeee."

Then Ruby unleashed the ultimate weapon upon which even the mightiest of huntsmen have fallen victim to. Her silver eyes could slay Grimm just as much as they could overpower people. That's right, nothing and no one in all of Remnant could stand against such invincible force: her puppy dog eyes.

How could anyone say no to that? It was downright criminal.

"Fine!" Weiss finally gave in but not without grumbling. "If you must know, I have been bothered by…" The rest was lost in deliberate mumbles.

"What was that?"

"I said, I'm bothered by your…"

But Weiss just kept mumbling the rest of her sentence.

"Weiss, if you don't tell me, I'll… I'll walk out right now." Ruby gave her an ultimatum.

That had Weiss finally crack.

"I just want to touch your stupid bare arms! Is that too much to ask?!" Weiss threw up her arms in exasperation, and then started sulking after her admission.

As for Ruby, she was quiet. She had been uncharacteristically still with her jaw hanging open in shock. The seconds that passed felt like minutes the longer that Ruby did not respond. Weiss was starting to worry that she may have said too much.

But then the widest of smiles formed on Ruby's lips.

"Aww, Weiss. If you wanted to touch them then you could have said so!"

Without warning, Ruby started to tug on her waist cincher, lace loosening —

"Ruby!"

Weiss covered her eyes but it was too late. When she saw Ruby had started to strip, her mind had finished the not so innocent picture for her.

"Sorry! Uhh, please don't look!"

Ruby squeaked, sounding like she just realized what she was doing. There was this awkward pause until eventually Weiss heard the shuffling of cloth. Weiss blocked out any mental image that surfaced from the sounds. She tried hard not to think about the fact that Ruby was just right there stripping — stripping for her — and she was failing.

Then Weiss just stopped thinking as soon as she felt arms wrap around her.

"Is this better?" Ruby's voice came in softly in her ear. The low whisper left goosebumps that had Weiss shudder.

No longer satisfied with fantasies, Weiss opened her eyes, and was met with Ruby's tender gaze. Her own gaze strayed just long enough to appreciate the now bare arms wrapped around her shoulders. Weiss gave a low and satisfied hum.

But the contact was not enough. So Weiss then raised her own arms to wrap around her partner's waist, pulling themselves closer. And while she was at it, she let her cheek fall against her partner's arm for that satisfying skin to skin contact. There, _much_ better.

Weiss leaned into her partner's touch and sighed, content. "...It's acceptable."

When Ruby chuckled, Weiss both heard and felt it, and Weiss felt twice content in that moment. Weiss leaned forward until their foreheads touched and their breaths mixed. She thought she felt Ruby's breath hitch for a moment but it did not last long enough for her to be sure that she had not imagined it.

They stayed like that for a while, for the longest and most content while that Weiss has ever had in fifteen days. Time passed blissfully, and Weiss still has not yet pulled away nor did she let Ruby out of her grasp.

"Now can we go see the others?" Ruby tentatively asked.

Weiss tightened her hold on her. "Not yet. Just a little while longer."

"I remember you telling me that it's rude to make other people wait."

"Ruby, if I had to wait how many days for this then they sure as well can wait a few more minutes."

To which Ruby acquiesced to Weiss' demand with a chuckle that they both felt within their embrace.

However, all good things must come to an end, and after some time (too short of a time according to Weiss' grumbling), they pulled away but not without looping their arms in the end. They then set forth on their trek to where the others were waiting.

And Weiss' prediction had been accurate, they were the last ones to arrive.

"Oh, I forgot something!" Ruby announced as soon as they stepped into the room. "Be right back!"

Typical Ruby, Weiss could not fault her for being too distracted from before. With a more than polite pat on Ruby's arm, Weiss let go of her partner's arm. She watched her go with a lingering gaze.

It was only after Ruby left that Weiss was rudely reminded of the other people in the room.

"It's about time you appreciated the gun show." Yang whistled and clapped Weiss on the shoulder but with just a little bit more force like she did whenever she was happy or teasing. "You're welcome by the way." She winked. Definitely the latter then.

"And why should I thank you?" Weiss eyed her suspiciously. When Yang only wagged her eyebrows in response, Weiss' jaw dropped in horror. "Oh, no, you didn't…"

She could not have… Oh, who was Weiss kidding? This was Yang so of course she could have, she _would_ have. And Weiss hated every implication of it.

"Are you saying that Ruby's state of dress these past few days has been your fault?"

"Yes." Yang was all too proud of her crime. But a quick elbow to her ribs from Blake has Yang confessing to her actual and only offense. "No…? Well kinda? I'm only liable for that one time."

The sparring "accident", of course, how could Weiss forget? That was the one where Ruby had soot smeared all over lean muscles, and when she flexed —

Nope! She cut that off before she could finish that mental image. She had to focus on the interrogation on hand.

"Really now?" Weiss levelled her with one of her patented glares. There was no fool who lived being subjugated to the glare and told a lie; there would have been a body count if anyone dared. "Then how do you explain all the other days?"

This was when Blake stepped in with a raised hand. "I'm the one who… 'lost' the laundry the other day." And she was unapologetic about it too.

"That was you? My favorite socks were in that batch! Please tell me you at least hid the clothes and did not actually lose them." Jaune pleaded.

But Blake just shook her head. "Sorry, Jaune."

A lot of laundry was sacrificed that day, Weiss' included. Was it worth it just to have Ruby sleeveless for one whole day? Well, Weiss would not argue against such satisfactory results. But this was not about the results, no matter how pleasing they were, this was about liability.

"Great. So you're an accomplice in this too." Weiss groaned because now she had two culprits to deal with. "Did Yang sign you up for this?"

"Actually no." Blake gave her another shake of her head, and added, "And I wasn't aware of Yang's plans either."

The answer surprised Weiss because with how joined at the hip these two were, she would have assumed that they schemed this together.

"Woah, missing laundry… Now that's just sneaky. No one would ever suspect that." Yang praised her partner with an all too proud grin.

"Thank you. Your plan wasn't so bad either." There was not anything special in Blake's words but if anyone looked closely enough, one could see that extra softness in her eyes. Of course, Yang saw this because she was always looking. And unfortunately so did Weiss who bore witness to these two's buzzing scene.

Honestly these two would be the end of Weiss the longer she had to suffer through their flirting.

But Yang's response only solidified Blake's claim. They were partners, yes, but they were not partners in this particular set of crimes.

"What were you two even thinking?" Weiss was sure that whatever it was, it was up to no good. "Any other plans you'd like to confess?"

"No, just that one time." Blake shrugged. "If I tried any more than once then it'd be too obvious."

Smart, Weiss thought. But she was not here to praise their cunningness. She was here to dig up the truth and to dig up some graves for her 'soon to be dead by her hands' friends while she's at it.

"So you're telling me that aside from these two separately orchestrated incidents, everything else is just pure coincidence?"

"Hey! What's it gotta take to get some recognition around here?" Nora hollered and even waved both of her arms, demanding attention.

Of course, there just had to be a third party.

Weiss could feel an oncoming headache. "Let me guess… That one time Ruby's shirt was replaced with an I.O.U. note?"

Nora instantly lit up. "So you've seen my work! You're welcome!" She puffed her chest with unabashed pride.

"And you let her do this?" Weiss shot the question to Nora's partner and supposedly impulse control.

Ren shrugged. "It's one of her tamer pranks."

Admittedly, he was not wrong. Compared to everything else that Nora has pulled off, this was one of her more harmless antics. That did not mean Weiss approved of it one bit.

And Weiss had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to this story than Ren let on. "I don't suppose that's all the involvement you have?"

"I may have borrowed Ruby's long sleeves one time." For such an outrageous claim, Ren delivered it as if he was talking about the weather. Nowhere in his monotonous voice did it imply that a guy of _obviously_ different body type and size had asked for a girl's clothes — and he had gotten away with it.

"Really?" Weiss asked; Ren nodded. "And she didn't find that suspicious at all?" Ren shook his head again.

"I was already prepared with the excuse of Nora asking me to borrow it but it turned out to be unnecessary," Ren added which only made this even more confusing.

"Ruby lent her blouse to you no questions asked?" Weiss would have been more incredulous if only this was not her partner they were talking about. Ruby was more of a 'help now, ask questions later' kind of simple soul. And this further cemented her partner's character when Ren nodded again.

"That's two strikes from us! The third one's supposed to be up to you." All fired up, Nora continued, "Get in that arms action! Woman up!"

Weiss pointedly ignored that last comment.

With Ren and Nora, that made for four culprits now. Four! And there were still more days to account for. Weiss dreaded the conclusion that this was leading to.

"I'm sensing a pattern here… One that I fear I will regret confirming."

As the resident self-proclaimed omen of misfortune, Qrow volunteered to prove her fears to be true. "Just so you know, the squirt's shirt didn't get destroyed when we sparred. I actually dared her to a no sleeves fight." He chuckled. "It's just my luck kicked in after and… well, you saw what was left of it."

Weiss remembered that visage vividly. Ruby's sleeves had been shredded and there was barely any cloth left hanging. Admittedly, the haphazard way the blouse was ruined only seemed to add a roguish charm that when paired with those arms made for a devastating combo on her heart.

But Weiss digressed. She could revisit that stimulating memory another time. For now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

If even Qrow, an _adult,_ was involved then this truly was as Weiss feared. Maybe even worse.

The luck part Weiss could understand but… "Why did you even ask her to a sleeveless fight?"

Qrow smirked. "Ain't it obvious? So you could check out the gun show after."

Weiss groaned and did a solid facepalm. Since when did everyone else take interest in her own interests? Wait, was she _that_ obvious?

No, this was not her fault. She could not be held liable for having her own interests. However, she could hold accountable anyone who decided to meddle in her affairs. But at this rate, that list would end up longer than she would have tolerated, or anticipated.

How many people were in the room? The incidental days were certainly enough to cover all of them. Weiss just hoped that was not the case.

"Who else here has instigated in getting Ruby sleeveless?"

Except against all of her disbelief, everyone raised their hands.

…

This was a conspiracy.

And Weiss was looking at all the perpetrators conspiring against her.

"Even you, Jaune?" Weiss was not even expecting anything from him and yet she was still disappointed.

"In my defense, that was not my intention." Jaune raised both of his hands, a futile effort to shield himself from one of Weiss' eviscerating glares. He cracked under pressure. "Hey, it really was an accident, I swear! My colors do not mix well with white."

Weiss turned her attention to the other unexpected culprit. "And what about you?"

Oscar sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I kind of picked up the wrong laundry and when Ruby snuck up on me… I panicked and… threw them out of the window."

Ah, the defenestration incident.

"Splendid," Weiss commented in a voice that sounded otherwise.

At least she could mark two incidents as truly accidents. It was still odd that the end results were still the same but she at least had two less people off her hit list.

Weiss sighed, already too tired to deal with whatever this was. But she was also too infuriated to just let this go. "Well? Anyone else here accidentally having a hand in this?"

"I don't know anything about accidents because I did mine deliberately!" Maria cackled.

The annoying laughter only intensified Weiss' growing headache. "But why though?"

"What? Can't an old woman have some fun around here?"

"Not at the expense of others!"

"A little embarrassment won't hurt anyone — definitely not me, ha!"

"Just kill me now."

Weiss should have known better than to ask for something reasonable from Maria who brought peanuts on a flight, chewing over the mic, just to be petty.

"Don't be so dramatic." Maria tutted her. "Besides, the kid's too good in the head. I told her that feeling the breeze on one's skin might help when meditating to activate the power of silver eyes."

"Does it?"

Maria's artificial eyes blinked. "Kid, I just told you that I did this for the laughs. What do you think?"

"Why did I even bother asking?" Weiss grumbled. On to the next perpetrator then. "I could expect this kind of prank from Maria but even you, Pietro?"

Pietro let out a hearty laugh. "Well, let's just say that this old man has to keep some hobbies."

It was rather hard to believe that this kind man had any hobbies of poor taste. If anything, Weiss has a more credible theory. "Maria has some dirt on you, doesn't she?"

Another jovial chuckle. "That she does but she didn't use it for this particular instance." Pietro started rubbing his chin as he recounted. "She proposed it to me like an experiment, a scientific inquiry, if you will. Now how was I supposed to turn down such a curious proposition?"

"No. You could have said no, that's how." Weiss pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Ah, but you forget I am a scientist. And curiosity is what drives us into action."

In any other circumstances, Weiss would have thought it to be inspiring. Applied to her current situation, however, it was just frustrating.

"I just asked her to help me do a few aura tests here and there. Granted, I may have also suggested that the shirt could possibly skew results and politely asked her to remove it for the remainder of the experiments."

So this was what Ruby meant when she said she had taken off her long sleeves for science.

There was just one missing variable in Weiss' understanding. "Okay, but I wasn't there with her for the experiments. So why was she still sleeveless even outside the lab?"

"I advised that she keep it off and keep an eye out for any possible side effects." Pietro happily explained. "We actually did some tests which yielded results that I could use later for research purposes. Of course, there was no need to discard her extra layer of clothing but that too was a separate experiment."

Weiss could not believe it. She was used… for science! And she was baited… with arms! For _science!_

"Are you alright, friend Weiss? I seem to detect high levels of stress on you."

Weiss? Stressed? It was more likely than you think.

"Oh, dear. It seems to be rising even higher! Do you require assistance?"

Weiss doubted that Penny could offer any assistance to her suffering. But perhaps she could offer answers instead.

"How did you even get the idea, Penny?" Weiss evenly asked.

Penny closed her eyes in thought. When she opened them, so did her mouth. "You seemed to be struggling with something, friend Weiss. And when I conferred with the others, they told me of the solution."

So the idea was implanted, for Penny at least, Weiss contemplated. "Who are these 'others', Penny?"

Penny gave her a standard salute. "Why General Ironwood, the Ace-ops, even Winter!"

…

…What.

Oblivious to Weiss' brain short circuiting from that piece of information, Penny happily continued.

"Within calculation, I burned a hole in one of her sleeves with my laser and told friend Ruby it was because I thought I saw a tiny bug sized Grimm on her arms." Penny hiccuped. "There was no such tiny Grimm."

"Of course, there wasn't." But Weiss acknowledged Penny's honesty. Penny may have been an accessory to this crime but she was no mastermind.

Now to handle the remaining culprits in light of the new incriminating information. While Weiss had seen them raise their hands from earlier, to hear that they were actively conspiring against her was another offense.

"Aren't you professionals?" Weiss accused all five of the Ace-ops.

"Sorry, miss. Just doing our job." Clover for his part looked at least apologetic about it. But regardless of the apology's sincerity, there was something more important that needed to be addressed.

Did Weiss hear that right? "Excuse me but are you implying that you were _ordered_ to assist in such a trivial and arguably _personal_ matters?"

"Not implying but stating." Vine clarified in a professional tone.

"Yup, 'Get Ruby sleeveless and get you in the same room', those were our specific orders." Elm seconded with added details.

"And you didn't question this?"

These were the best hunstmen of Atlas — and they were taking such useless orders.

"Orders are orders." Harriet shrugged as if that was enough to justify this flagrant abuse of power.

"It's almost like we're pranking you except we get to do it on a payroll!" Marrow looked too pleased by that deal.

"Truly the finest of huntsmen." Weiss rolled her eyes. "At least you were ordered as a group, I assume? How did you pull it off?"

Clover stepped up and chuckled. "Let's just say with a little luck, it's surprisingly easy to get a loose thread snagged."

Oh. For the briefest of moments, a memory flashed behind her eyes. Thread pulled, sleeves unraveling, arms revealed inch by tantalizing inch of bare skin.

When Weiss felt her face start to flush, she quickly masked it in anger as she turned to the general instigator of the orders, General Ironwood.

"Again, may I ask why?" Weiss leveled him with a glare. He may have authority but she had the moral upper ground.

"You could say I have a vested interest in the wellbeing of my colleagues." Ironwood's answer was too formal, too vague, too political.

Weiss hardened her glare.

He met her ire with amusement. "What? Just because I work hard doesn't mean I don't play hard as well."

So he did it for fun too, how professional indeed. Weiss supposed that was all the reason that she was ever going to get from the general's lips. "And your ingenious idea was what exactly?"

"I simply asked her to surrender her long sleeves so we may upgrade it with more durable threads. At the prospect of it being fire Dust-proof, she was more than willing to cooperate."

That dolt! Ruby always had a weakness for weaponry that could easily be exploited. Although the blouse was more armor than weapon, just add upgrades into the mix and Ruby would have gushed over it all the same. And who was Ruby to deny an upgrade sponsored by the general himself?

So that was everyone else' crime. Which left only one other criminal in the room.

"Even you, Winter?" Weiss faced her sister, betrayed. "Don't tell me you were ordered too?"

Winter, as composed as always, evenly responded, "Believe it or not, not everything I do is under the General's orders."

Well that certainly put a spin on things. On one hand, this was not enforced on Winter. On the other hand, Weiss chose to participate in such inane endeavors _voluntarily._

Weiss honestly did not know which one was worse.

"As you are my sister, I have a personal interest in this matter."

Normally, Weiss would have rejoiced at having Winter's attention but she never asked for this. Not like this. Oh gods, what was Winter even thinking? What did Winter think of her? What was Winter's opinion on Weiss' thoughts about Ruby? Did Weiss even want to know?

If Winter noticed Weiss' internal crisis, she did not say. Instead she calmly continued, "I admit that it was a bit challenging to set up an accidental spilling of tea on your partner but it was not above achievable. I then asked for her shirt afterward with a promise to return it in a better condition, which she happily obliged."

At least Winter pulled off one of the more banal stunts. But what concerned Weiss more was her sister's motivation.

"And why were you even trying to get my partner sleeveless?"

Like the true professional that she was, Winter wore an unreadable expression.

"That's classified."

To which Weiss openly expressed her frustration with an exasperated groan.

So to sum things up, Weiss had discovered an… _appreciation_ of Ruby's arms. For some reason, everyone else had discovered about Weiss' epiphany and decided to actively meddle in her affairs — independently.

And that was probably the most mind boggling takeaway from all of this. Somehow all these people were able to plot different _independent_ schemes involving Ruby's long sleeves and none of them ever colluded (except maybe for the Ace-ops but they were ordered as a group so they were an exception). But still! Everyone practically figured it out on their own that Weiss had a thing for Ruby's arms.

It all made sense, ridiculous and unbelievable sense, but the facts did not lie.

It explained why Ruby had been wearing one less layer of clothing for the past two weeks. And while Weiss was still deliberating on what kind of capital punishment she would have to enforce on these offenders, there was this small nagging thought in the back of her mind — still one more unresolved mystery.

If these were truly all of the culprits and if they were responsible for every single torturous day she's suffered thus far, then…

Then how come the numbers did not add up?

Not counting today because technically Weiss was the reason for today's sleeveless Ruby, then there were a total of fourteen days to account for. Tallying the crowd, there was Yang, Blake, Nora, Ren, Qrow, Jaune, Oscar, Maria, Pietro, Penny, Ace-ops, Ironwood, and Winter. Thirteen culprits.

That was one less than the number of accounted days.

Who was responsible for the first day? Was there even supposed to be someone to pin the blame on? Or was it mere coincidence? But thirteen was clearly a pattern and Weiss suspected that the first day was no exception.

Just what was the story behind day number one?

"I'm back!"

Oblivious to the reveal of the greatest conspiracy in all of Remnant, Ruby walked in with a skip in her steps — only to stop when she finally caught on the mood of the room.

An amused crowd surrounded an exasperated Weiss.

"Uhh… Did I miss anything?" Ruby asked, shifting glances between Weiss and the others, then finally concern lingered on her partner who looked just about to collapse.

After a quick compartmentalization of everything that was just revealed, Weiss took it as her responsibility to assuage her partner's worry. "No, nothing important."

Weiss held onto Ruby's arm, giving it a firm and satisfying squeeze. What? She earned it.

Ruby tilted her head, asking Weiss if she was okay. To which Weiss replied with a dismissive shake of her head and a small smile for good measure.

"I think I'd like to get some fresh air. Care to join me?"

"Sure! I'm always happy to be with you!"

Without prompt, Ruby looped her arm with Weiss', and then connected their hands, intertwining their fingers. All of Weiss' frustration from these past two weeks seemed to melt away in this moment of intimate contact. It was worth it. Weiss squeezed and she felt Ruby squeeze back. Definitely worth it.

And as they walked away, Weiss figured that she could get back at everyone else on another date. For now, she would enjoy the spoils of this hard-won war.

Little did Weiss know just how much Ruby was enjoying this too.

* * *

**BONUS: Day Number One**

Ruby wanted attention.

Not just any attention, she wanted Weiss' attention.

Why? Because why not? Weiss was like one of Ruby's favorite persons in all of Remnant so of course Ruby wanted to feel just as special in Weiss' eyes. Plus it felt like she has not spoken with Weiss much ever since they got to Atlas — which was stupid because they were partners, why would they stop talking to each other all of a sudden?

But due to whatever higher power (or maybe because there was no higher power since the gods have abandoned them), these two partners just could not find the opportunity to do more than just glance at each other for two seconds. Two second eye contact and nothing more.

Hence, Ruby's need for Weiss' attention.

She remembered reading somewhere that to get someone's attention was as easy as changing one's looks. Well Ruby liked her new hair enough, thank you, next. And she just got this new outfit change, she did not want to request another. But that's when Ruby was hit with an ingenious idea.

Rather than ask for new or additional clothes, why not just take away from her current look?

In terms of practicality, the cloak was the least essential in her getup but if the criteria was sentimentality, then it would be the last to go. She could let go of an accessory or two but all of her accessories were functional so they were off the list. The long sleeves was her best bet because as long as she stayed in the toasty indoors, then she would not have to risk freezing to death for a fashion statement.

So that was how Ruby ended up foregoing to wear her long sleeves one day. With that obvious change then Weiss was sure to notice it and then shower her with attention. The plan was perfect!

Except there was only one problem.

"Weiss, you haven't even looked at me this whole time."

"You have my partial attention."

What was the use of trying something new to get noticed if her partner would not even look in the first place?

"Weiiiss!" Ruby wailed and started shaking Weiss.

Weiss ignored her and tapped the next page of her reading. "Didn't you promise to race with Harriet again today?"

"Yeah, but…" Ruby paused, biting the inside of her cheek in thought. "If I use my semblance, I could always make it in time."

"Save your aura for the actual race, dolt." Weiss chastised, and Ruby felt her partner lightly bump their heads together. "Now hurry along. You know how rude it is to make people wait."

When Weiss absentmindedly patted Ruby's arm, Ruby knew that her partner was a lost cause.

"Fine." Ruby huffed and unwrapped herself from Weiss.

And with that, Ruby walked away begrudgingly. At least they talked, that had to count as some form of victory, right? That was definitely more talking between them than they had for the past few weeks (really, what was it with Atlas and them not talking?).

Well day one was a failure. Now it was back to the drawing board again as Ruby thought of a better plan than just going sleeveless.

Little did Ruby know just how much attention her plan had gotten her.

**Author's Note:**

> Self care is writing a 10K word gagshot. 
> 
> I think I wrote this in frustration because the Best Partners weren't talking at all in V7. And so this gagshot and the thirst fic **Looks Like You Want To Touch** were born. If you haven't read that yet, you might want to check that out for peak gay!


End file.
